Showing posts with label behavior. Show all posts
Showing posts with label behavior. Show all posts

Saturday, March 6, 2021

Observe, Observe, Observe!

by Mary Gallagher

Pecan responds to Mary while keeping an eye out

Imagine standing on the ground, watching a horse in the process of spooking. What can we observe?

  1. Thought exits: “Yikes! What is that spooky thing?!” Their mind goes blank—run! They turn around, get ready to run again—head up, lots of blowing.
  2. Thought returns: They turn around, freeze—stand still (testing the stop) run again, stop without freezing, take a few steps. Then—
  3. Extend nose, while blowing and smelling.
  4. Stretch and reach with nose and neck.
  5. Cautiously move in the direction of the nose, engaging the feet.

Spooking is something all horse people have witnessed, but I’ve made a point here to break it down to predictable components—sort of a slow motion camera to show the process. We can expect this pattern in a spooking situation, and that kind of predictability gives us options, if we can train ourselves to 'observe, observe, observe'. Now extend that expectation to all horse behavior. What if every movement is the horse testing to see if it is safe to linger or better to leave...?

Wednesday, November 7, 2018

Balanced Performance—good health, versatility, and fun as a path to excellence

by Mary Gallagher

In my recent posts, I have been sharing the progress and development of a 4-year old warmblood named Zeus who is in training with me. He came into our lives thanks to Joe Wolter’s clinic here last August. Zeus’s owner, Wendy Comstock, had brought Zeus all the way from her home in Yamhill, Oregon for the clinic. Joe, as always, was incredibly wise and helpful, and Wendy and I also connected regarding Zeus’s further training. At the end of the clinic, Wendy left him with us and he has been a pretty popular guy at the Farm, with his handsome good looks, easygoing, willing personality and eagerness to learn.

Friday, August 3, 2018

Emotion and Consequences for Predator and Prey

 by Mary Gallagher

Mary Gallagher and student.
I was reading this week’s excellent short article by Grace Mitchell, one of my students, on consequences in horse training. She pointed out that effective consequences—our actions—in communicating with our horses needed to be appropriate in degree and timing to correct or reinforce behaviors in the horse. Importantly, Grace also reminded us that consequences are either positive or negative, and that we create consequences intentionally or unintentionally which impact our horse’s learning.

Timing and Degree of Consequences in Training Horses

Grace and Cysco in conversation.



By Grace Mitchell

Hoof Beats Beach camp is our best horsemanship camp for our advanced students. Each summer we spend 5 days at the beach immersing ourselves in our horsemanship as well as having a lot of fun with our horses.

We combine ground skills, on line and at liberty, to test the strength of our connection, and define the weaknesses in our communication so we can progress in our relationship with our horses.

Model student Grace Mitchell had some very wise insights to share with her fellow students this camp. I was so impressed with her ability to articulate this to the other students I asked her to write her thoughts down for our online students (and wrote a companion piece). Here are her words. -MG

Saturday, April 8, 2017

Stop! Don’t get on that horse! (Yet.) Part 1 of 2

by Jessica Crouch

Spring is finally here and many of you are eager to get riding again.  Maybe a friend has invited you for a trail ride and offered you a horse you don’t know well.  Maybe you are anxious to get your green horse going again and see if you can develop him a bit more this year.  YOU are anxious to get riding, but before swinging into the saddle, there are some basic things you should do to check if your HORSE is ready.

Sunday, August 7, 2016

Balanced Performance: making every moment with your horse count, from barn to gate, and beyond (a series)

 by Mary Gallagher

One lesson horses have consistently taught me over the years is to be present and address questions as they arise, before moving on. We don't know what future problem we are fixing in the present but most certainly, if we ignore the issue in the moment, it will show up again at the most inopportune time. Knowing this has shaped my teaching at home and on the road: make each moment you spend with your horse count!

In my last post, I shared how I had recently witnessed a horse's unwanted behavior at the in gate at a show, a perfect example of an issue showing up under pressure, at an inopportune time:

Thursday, July 7, 2016

Koko and the Beginnings of Balanced Performance

by Mary Gallagher

Everyone in my family got to choose a special gift for their 13th birthday. I think that was my parents’ way of getting out of buying us cars at 16. Anyway, all 6 kids wanted their special thing, and mine was a horse. His name was Koko and we spent a lot of time together. He was 3 when I got him. I had been showing since I was 7 so I wasn’t a total beginner, but I was no trainer, either. I depended on my adult trainers for guidance on how to develop Koko.

There were lots of trails around our stable, so I rode him out after lessons whenever possible. We fox hunted and did horse trials along with dressage and jumping lessons, and horse shows. Koko was a great all around horse.

14-year old Mary Gallagher on Koko.
About 3 years into our life together, the showing part was beginning to develop a glitch. Koko did not want to leave the in gate; he developed a real aversion to it. Within a year we were regularly getting excused from the arena. I tried everything my trainer asked, and even had other trainers ride him at shows to help get him get over this behavior, but nothing seemed to work. Koko was one very arena sour guy.

Thursday, January 28, 2016

The Transformation of Niko, Part 5

 By Michelle Grimmer

This article is the fifth in a series about Michelle’s thoroughbred Niko, whose journey to health is a study in holistic horse care and natural horsemanship. The earlier articles are highly recommended as background. You can find all Michelle’s articles by clicking on her name at right, or just start HERE, with the first installment of The Transformation of Niko (Part One).  - ed.

            One of the best things that ever happened to Niko was that I started nursing school just after I adopted him from his previous owner. While at times I felt frustrated that I could not do more with him on a daily basis to help him progress, the very thing he needed was for me to do things very slowly. In other words, less was more. The challenges present in his body and mind (which I came to think of as his ‘twistedness’) required strategic nudging and time for things to be sorted out. Niko is a tremendously talented horse who has always always been willing to try, and has always made progress, but I had a nagging sense that there was yet more inside Niko to work through, that there were still ‘stuck places’ in his body somewhere.

Thursday, June 4, 2015

Lesson Notes: The Benefits of Head Lowering

by Mary Gallagher

When I was working for Jimmy Williams, I noticed that he was forever getting his horses to lower their heads. He would lower a horse’s head to put the bridle on, or to smooth the forelock out under the brow band. He would teach the horse to roll a barrel with its nose. With a squeeze in front of the withers, he’d get the horse to lower its head, and then he would throw a sugar cube on the ground for it. Thinking back, Jimmy spent a lot of time in this endeavor. He must have thought it was important.